It’s easy to get lost in development-related terminology, and ICT4D has no shortage of complex terms used by different actors, in different ways, and in different contexts. In this post, I’ll look at three of those terms: Participation, the digital divide, and community. The idea is not to provide a definite explanation of the terms (as there is no such thing!) but to show that these terms are complex and should not be taken for granted within ICT4D – or development discourse more generally. Continue reading 3 ICT4D terms you need to think about
Tag Archives: Community
Zapatistas and ICT
Few conflicts have shaken the recent history of Mexico as deeply as the confrontations between the Mexican Army and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Violence and repression have been used against indigenous communities ever since the Americas were colonized and this is still the case today in pockets of the continent where indigenous peoples live. One of them is the Zapatitas community of Chiapas (South Mexico) who, although not completely heterogenous, have managed to preserve their identity and culture after hundreds of years. Continue reading Zapatistas and ICT
Community Media – Key Words
This blog aims to highlight the centrality of the role of community media to questions of participation, democracy, and social change. It is thus important, as an introductory step, to provide a basic definition of concepts such as community, civil society, and community media as they figure in Ellie Rennie’s book Community Media: A Global Introduction.
According to Rennie, community is not a static, uniform entity, but rather an ongoing process shaped by interaction and communication. It is a relation that is frequently negotiated. Community does not only denote a geographical location, but also figures in “terms of interest, language, cultural or ethnic groupings”. Although it is thought to be “pre-political”, unplanned, and dependent on a sense of belonging, community can be a type of governance through furthering political aspirations. Continue reading Community Media – Key Words